because of her, we can.

For all her fierce business acumen, impressive list of achievements, and enviable easy charm, it’s the, “we’re all in this together,” ethos that really makes you sit up and pay attention.

Mayrah is co-founder and co-director at 33 Creative, a small business that creates media, communications and events that engage, inspire and empower.

The team recently launched The Real, an independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander multimedia platform featuring profiles and interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as arts, events and lifestyle reporting.

It’s all about opening hearts and minds through the power of storytelling.

News Xtend sat down with Mayrah to focus on a different kind of story this time. Hers.

what inspired you to start 33 creative?

33 Creative was started by my business partner, Georgia Cordukes, and I about four years ago.

We previously worked in an amazing organisation called Deadly Vibe Group.

I was there for eight years and Georgia was there for 17, and we knew we worked really well together.

Unfortunately that organisation no longer exists, but we knew we wanted to keep doing the great work we were doing that was really helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, so we decided to start our own business.

We took six months, didn’t pay ourselves, worked from home in our pyjamas, had meetings in cafes, all those sort of things.

Now we have six full-time staff in our office in Sydney, but we work right across the country, across federal, state and local government and the not-for-profit sector as well.

We have a really great bunch of clients, and are in a position to do really important work in the community.

your business and personal ethos are very much aligned, how important is this to you?

Our ethos at33 Creative is to open hearts and minds through storytelling.

I remember as a little girl seeing my first Aboriginal face on television, and it was Ernie Dingo doing a travel show and I thought, “oh, maybe I can be that.”

That was the first time I thought maybe a career in communications or the media might be something that I wanted to do, so it was really great to see Ernie Dingo on the screens, and read The Deadly Vibe Magazine and see all these Aboriginal people doing all these different jobs.

That really resonated with me and it still really drives me in what I do.

I want to use my life everyday to make a difference in whatever way possible, and it’s really one of the things I love about being in business, because you can try different things and design your lifestyle, design the company, and design what you spend your time doing, which is a real privilege.

I wouldn’t say there is one big challenge, I think there are challenges along the way and that’s part of the journey.

I’m pretty philosophical about them now, but I used to get really emotional and take a lot of time to recover when little things went wrong.

But you get a thicker skin and learn to manage things a little bit better, and then I think it’s all about pulling together those little tips and tricks to look after your mental health.

I used to have a pretty rigorous events schedule at Deadly Vibe and I spent a lot of my weekends sleeping, catching up. So it’s about getting to know yourself and your limits.

Of course you’ve got to manage your business and clients, but the most important thing is to manage your mental health.

That’s a really important thing at 33 Creative, it’s one of our core values.

It’s all about balance. We want to be in business and in the role of storytelling and profiling fantastic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island stories for the long-term, we don’t want to burn out and be nowhere in five years.

how important is technology and social media for your business?

It’s absolutely important, we can’t be in a communication or events space and not be up to date with

the latest digital products, and we use different platforms for different clients.

Social media really allows you to access more people more quickly.

I think generally Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people find each other, “Who’s your mob? Where are you from? How are we connected?” It’s a cultural kind of introduction piece and that’s amplified through social media and everyone kind of knows each other and supports each other.

A lot of our team do work across digital marketing, but we’re a small business so everyone chips in and does lots of different jobs as well.

what advice do you have for ATSI persons looking to start their own business?

If you’re thinking you might like to go into business, I would 100% recommend it.

I love being in business, I think a lot of our people would be really good at business, and I don’t think there’s been as much opportunity as there is now.

Business can really positively affect community, it allows self-determination, you can pick your own hours and fit family commitments in.

There’s a lot of hard work involved in having a successful business, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of our people might be great artists, for example, and they can build that as a side business whilst they are doing other things and build up along the way.

Pay attention during the annual Indigenous Business Month, because there’s lots of different people telling their stories and sharing how they’ve done it.

Resources like Supply Nation, that connects with Aboriginal businesses, as well as business hubs and local chambers of commerce, and Indigenous Business Australia are all places you can go to find out a little bit more.